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The Urban Desi team is back for a third year of madness! Co-founders Monty Kataria and Abhinav Chintakunta have not only expanded their team but developed new components to the weekend. The two-day event presented by Saavn, features a new and improved conference and the return of its hugely successful concert packed with well-known urban desi artists on the scene.
This year, we’ve added new interactive features to the event: a formal gala night, which includes a dinner with all the guests of the concert and conference, private workshops with your favorite dancers and musicians, and a pop up shop before the concert!
“The culture and community of the South Asian or Desi diaspora is so vibrant and relevant that we had to bring it all together,” said UDC co-founder, Kataria. “This is our third consecutive year and we’re just getting started.”
This year’s panels will feature not just music related guests but South Asian leaders in technology, entertainment, business, marketing, education, philanthropy, art, fitness, and more. The conference starts off with a female powered panel featuring talents like popular designer Megha Rao of HoliChic, Emmy award-winning journalist Narmeen Choudhury of Pix 11 News and Time Inc.’s senior producer, Priya Desai, just to name a few. The conference honors its roots with a “Made in New York” panel which features the city’s home grown heroes like legendary DJ Sharad and NYPD Sergeant Gurvinder Shergill, the founder of the NYPD Sikh Association.
Budding entrepreneurs can learn the tricks of the trade with our startups focused panel, health fanatics can get their fix with our fitness panel and fresh artists can learn from the masters in our music and digital streaming panel. UDC’s philanthropic aspirations are not just for show, the conference also features powerful organizations like Revive, TED, Uplift Humanity and SAYFTY who promote causes like educating children in India to teaching girls self-defense. The night will wrap up with some laughs and music with stars like YouTubers Rupan Bal and Wajeeh Mahmood, as well as artists like Arjun, Bohemia, Fateh and Kamal Raja will be in attendance.
Here is the full list of panel topics:
1. A Woman’s World
2. Made in New York
3. Entrepreneurship & Start-Ups
4. Philanthropy and Nonprofits
5. Health, Fitness & Wellness
6. The YouTube Frenzy
7. The Audible Image: Music and Digital Streaming
8. KALAKAAR: The Desi Artist
The gala will also feature Terry Mardi, the man who coined the term “Urban Desi” as the keynote speaker. For those who don’t know, Mardi is a legend of the urban desi music scene which began in the UK. He is an entertainer who has produced and even starred in web shows, radio shows, music shows and more. He is the founder of multiple companies built to promote South Asian talent, including Asian Music Publishing (AMP) and has worked with artists like Jay Sean and Rishi Rich. Currently he is working on a documentary on the history of urban desi music.
This year’s conference is in collaboration with the prestigious New York University and will be held at NYU’s Kimmel Center. Panels will be running simultaneously and end with a formal gala including dinner with all guests for ticket holders.
The next day will feature a pop up shop in collaboration with Product of Culture featuring some phenomenal Urban Desi designers like Roots Gear and the work of talents like Atif Ateeq, Babbu the Painter, and Badal Patel. Shop while Dj Sharad and Rohit Sharma turn this pop-up event into a party.
This year’s concert sees the return of some fan favorites like Amar Sandhu, Pranna, Fateh, Samica, and Saavn’s Artist Originals (AO) hitmakers Raxstar, The PropheC, and Zack Knight.
“Coming back to UDC for the third year is an honor, it gets better and better every year,” said Raxstar. “I love performing in NYC, the energy is amazing. Each year I try to bring something new to the show, and with some new music releases coming up, I hope the fans enjoy the surprises we have in store.”
“I’m glad to see UDC grow year after year with acts that push each other to bring out the best in themselves for the fans, and to be a part of this monumental event for the third year in a row is an honor!” said Amar Sandhu.
“I think the Urban Desi Conference & Concert is an important step in the right direction for this movement to have an identity that is recognized and accepted worldwide,” said Pranna. “Having been invited 3 years in a row, I’m blessed to be able to help define the sound and vision that our industry is creating.”
The concert will also see some fresh faces on the line up, like Sonna Rele, Bambi, Jaz Dhami, Bohemia, Kamal Raja, and Arjun! Hot off the success his debut album, Arjun will be performing his debut album in America for the first time.
“I’m really looking forward to finally be performing at the Urban Desi Conference in New York,” said Arjun. “Year on year it’s becoming a more important and influential event for the South Asian youth in the US, giving a top line up of entertainment and inspirational speakers. This year’s event is even more special for me personally as I share my debut album Closer To Home with fans at UDC for the first time.. See you there!”
The show is also bring back together the hitmakers of yesteryear, The Bilz and Kashif! Though the trio are all working on solo careers, this concert will see a reunion of the much loved Canadian group. They will be performing some of their hit single as well as new music from their solo careers.
“Being pioneers of the UrbanDesi industry, we’re honoured to be part of this massive event. It’s great to see a team like UDC put up a conference that talks about our industry,” the artists said. “It’s something we’ve been hoping to see for the last 13 years being in the business! It’s a great platform and we look forward to see future generations continue this movement!”
Urban Asian and Brown Girl magazine have been partners of UDC since its inception in 2016, this year the event will be presented by Saavn, and joined by Aleria Arts, and Seth Studios as partners as well.
This year the concert will be held at Irving Plaza, a Live Nation concert venue in New York City and the conference will be at the NYU Kimmel Center.
